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Kripke's five-season arc ends after this coming season, but would it make sense for the Winchester brothers to fight on?

If you are a Supernatural fan and you've turned on your computer this morning, you've probably seen all the hubbub over the show, which goes a little something like this: "OMG Supernatural is ending in 2010 ... maybe!" It's a jarring revelation, but let's not get a twist in our knickers just yet.

The drama all began with an article on EW.com, which featured a click-baiting headline: "Exclusive: Supernatural to 'end with a bang' in 2010 (but there's a catch)." The catch? Any notion of this being Supernatural's last season is ill-conceived and nothing to worry over yet. So: At ease, Supe fans!

Next season ends Eric Kripke's five-season vision for the show, but as he's said before, that in no way means the show is definitively ending. But it does beg the question: Should it end after next season?

The worst thing a network can do with a successful TV show is let it drag out and overstay its welcome. How many times have we seen that before? About a billion. But this is particularly true with serialized shows, and drawn-out dramas can take a lesson from ABC's Lost.

Lost had a plan and stuck to it: during the show's third season (which was struggling creatively and spinning its wheels -- Sawyer and Kate stuck in a cage? Snooooze!) the producers announced it would be ending after season six, no ifs, ands, or buts. The result has been mostly positive, and we now have a show that clearly has a direction and isn't treading water.

Supernatural's fifth season is about the apocalypse and defeating Lucifer, which pretty much sounds like the ultimate ending point for a show. But Kripke says, "I’m looking at this season as the last chapter in this particular story. That doesn’t mean there can't be a new story. Buffy did it. The X-Files did it. You close a chapter on a big mythology storyline and then you begin a new one." But should Supernatural start a new story?

The idea of serialized TV shows setting an end date is great; it wraps things up nicely and lets them end on their own terms. And here's why Supernatural shouldn't end after season two: because even though the serialized mythology plays a huge role in the show, Supernatural also works great as an anthology series (which was Kripke's original inspiration). The anthology episodes do fantastic jobs of opening and closing mysteries in 44 minutes, and they still deliver what we love most about Supernatural: the relationship between Dean and Sam.

So while a show like Lost benefits from setting an end date (Heroes, take note) and answering the big "WTF is the island already?" question, the same can not be said for Supernatural. In short, Supernatural isn't a one-trick pony and I'm sure its super-talented writing staff has more stories to tell.

We know most Supernatural fans would never want to see the show end, but surely there has to be someone out there who can make a case for season five being its last. Let's hear it in the comments section below.

NO! NO! IT CAN'T END! NOT YET! It's one of the few worthwhile scripted shows still playing!

If they want to talk about shows dragging out and overstaying their welcome, let's have a conversation about American Idol, Survivor, Big Brother, Lost, daytime judge shows, and a bunch of other crap. Leave Sam and Dean alone! A bad episode of Supernatural is better than a good episode of most anything else!

I agree with this completely. End American Idol and all the other half a million alike shows that are on TV now a days. I havent really cared for watching TV but I cam across Supernatural and Eureka and got hooked on watching TV Again! Also getting into Season 8 and 9 of Smallville!